A.Vogel World: Stories > The Story of Echinaforce®
The Story of Echinaforce®: Alfred Vogel discovers the Echinacea plant among the Native Americans
At the beginning of the 1950s Alfred Vogel spent
some time with the Native American Sioux in the USA. The way these
indigenous people used the power of Nature for their health made a huge
impression on him. In the course of time, a deep friendship based on
mutual respect developed between Sioux medicine man, Ben Black Elk, and
the explorer from far-off Europe.
Black Elk familiarised Alfred Vogel with Native American healing and
initiated him into the secrets of their medicine. He even imparted
knowledge to his friend of the very plant that was to become so
important to Alfred Vogel: the purple coneflower (lat. Echinacea
purpurea). The Sioux had known of this plant for generations and used
it as an all-round remedy: externally for snakebites, wounds and
bruising and internally for strengthening the immune system.
At the end of his stay in South Dakota, Black Elk presented his friend
with a handful of Echinacea seeds. Alfred Vogel took the precious gift
back to Switzerland and began to cultivate the plant, with great
success. Even today, the plants used to make the A.Vogel Echinaforce®
remedy are descended from the seeds which Alfred Vogel received from
Black Elk.
